Accordion construction



JanLZ, 1940. c. LINDEBERG ACCORDION CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 19, 1938 IN VEN TOR. (2m 1 MW/ffif/FG.

ATTORNEY-3.

Patented Jan. 2 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ACCORDION CONSTRUCTION a corporation Application October 19, 1938, Serial No.2s5nzo '7 Claims.

This invention relates to accordions, and particularly to the construction of the accordion. box and the bass action, as well as its installation within the box. It also relates to the structure 5 of the treble'box, includingthe treble valve board.

It is the principal object of the invention to improve upon the construction of the various principal parts of the accordion in such manner as to simplify the same, improve the appearance,

reduce the weight and at the same time permit of its manufacture at lower cost, partially obtained by the character of the structure and partially by the greater accessibility to the working mechanism for purpose of assembly.

Heretofore, it has been the practice to construct the conventional accordion bass box .of plywood covered by a plastic, such as Celluloid. Screwed to such box is the so-called bottom board carrying the foot rests of the accordion, which is made of 20 hard wood plywood. Thus, in order to gain access to the bass of the accordion, such bottom board must be unscrewed and removed. Also it has been the practice in standard construction to provide a separate removable bass piston board provided 25 with a plurality of apertures through which the bass buttons, keys or pistons extend and operate.

The above structure requires that the bass valve board be permanently secured by gluing against the valve strip within the box, and this is usually 30 accomplished by gluing it from the bottom so that it becomes a permanent part of the bass box. The result is that the bass action must be assembled inside of the box on the valve board, or, if assembled outside of the box, it must be 35 fastened to the valve board inside the box.

Onefeature of the invention resides in constructing the entire bass box. including the bottom board and piston board, of one piece of sheet plastic material, such as Celluloid, and wherein 40 the bass valve board, instead of being permanently glued in from the bottom against the valve board strip, is removably fastened from the top to the bass valve strip. Thus, the entire bass action, including the valves, pistons, etc., may be mounted on the bass valve board before it is inserted in the accordion, and its assembly may be done outside of the box, thus affording much greater accessibility in the mounting, adjustments and regulation of the action. The particular advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact that instead of inserting the individual bass action buttons or keys through apertures in the bass piston board, they may be inserted simultaneously as a group. Instead of the apertures in the piston board providing a bearing for the buttons or keys,

they are more conveniently and accurately supported by a separate supporting bridge, thus permitting a more accurate alignment.

From the above construction, it follows that a more pleasing appearance of the accordion is possible because the plastic material may be moulded or formed to any desired shape, such as may more readily permit of streamlining and the elimination of unsightly outside joints such as may open up due to Warpage or shrinkage. Also many separate parts in the assembly may be eliminated and during and after assembly the bass action is more readily accessible.

Another feature of the invention resides in the construction of the treble box, which, while having the sustaining portion thereof made of wood because of the required rigidity and the Weights sustained thereby instead of covering it with The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawing and the following description and claims:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing an end portion of an accordion illustrating the improvements herein described. Fig 2 is a transverse section through the treble box. Fig. 3 transverse section through the bass box. Fig. 4 is the same as Fig 2, showing a modified form of construction. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the end portion of the treble box of the modified form in Fig. 4.

In the drawing there is illustrated an accordion comprising in general the bass box section H], the accordion section I l, the treble box section l2, and the key bed section l3.

The bass section ID, as illustrated in Fig. 3, is primarily formed of a single piece of sheet plastic material,such as Celluloid or pyralin,which is dish shaped to house the bass action. The bottom board portion I4 is formed with protrusions l5 for providing the usual feet by which the accordion is rested upon a table or the like. The front lo it side portion 16 is provided with a plurality of apertures through which the accordion bass buttons or keys I! freely extend. This section is formed of the usual end portions and the back portion I8. The upper portion is squared ofi, as indicated at i9, to embrace a reinforcing section 20 of plywood or the like carrying therewith a valve board strip 2I to which the valve board 22 may be secured. The portion 20 is r'emovably secured and locked to the accordion section I I in the usual manner.

Separately and independently from the plastic molded housing the bass valve board 22 is assembled with the bass action including the reed blocks 23 mounted on one side thereof andthe valves 2t mounted on the opposite side thereof. Supported on the board 22 there are provided a bridge 25 and brackets Q'G jand 27 carrying and supporting the finger wires 28 of'the bass pistons or Keys 51. This entire bass action assembly carried by the board 22 is first assembled, tested and tuned, after which it is mounted in'the'plastic housing'through the open end, simultaneously inserting all of the keys or pistons ll through their respective apertures in the pistonboard I6. The assembly is supported and removably secured to the'valve board strip 2i by screws or any other suitable means, such as will permit ready removal. By means ofthis construction, not only is a cheaper and a better appearing bass box section provided but the assembly and mounting of the bass section therein and its complete accessibility by convenient removal therefrom is greatly enhanced.

The construction of the treble box, as illustrated in Fig. 2, includes the provision of a rigid solid or plywood structure, indicated at 3, to

which is rigidly secured the key board 3| upon whichthe keys 3 2 are mounted in the usual manner. Thus, a strong rigid construction is provided, such as will supportthe keyboard and, in fact, support the entire accordion through the medium of the usual shoulder strap. The treble valveboard 33, carrying the reedboxes 34, is secured to the upper side of the wooden box, the opposite open side thereof being secured in the usual manner to the accordion section II. This structure also supports in the usual manner the finger wires 35 carrying the valves 36.

Surrounding and embracing the wooden box 3% and at the same time forming the gallery 31, there isa pre-molded shell of plastic material, such as Celluloid, pyralin or the like. Thisshell curves downwardly from the gallery 31 to embrace the end walls and front side of the box, as indicated at 38. As best shown in Fig. 5, this shell is formed with the inwardly extending portions I39 which may be sprung about the back side of the box 30 so as to removably lock the shell in place.

By reason of this construction, the required weight supporting, and rigid key bedsupporting, treble section is made available by the heavy wooden box formation 39, which is encased by a removable decorative covering or shell of material which may be conveniently formed and which not only covers the box, but also forms the gallery portion. This decorative shell may be removed for permitting of ready access to the valves and finger wire and also gives the treble section the appearance of being a single unit instead of the usual two units comprising the box and gallery.

As illustrated in the modified forms of Figs. 4 and 5, the gallery portion of the shell, as indicated" at 131, is formed to slope in a graceful curve forwardly and downwardly to house an angularly disposed or sloping valve board, indicated at' I33. "This gallery encloses and houses: the

valves I 36 and valve arms I35, said valves con-1 trolling the reed blocks I34. The front and end walls ofthe box I30 are embraced by the lower portion of the shell, as indicated at I38, while the back wallof said box is partially embracedby the 5 integrally formed extensions I39of theshell which clamp thereabout, owing to the springiness of the materialfrom which the shell is adapted to be formed.

The invention claimed is:

" 1. An accordion having a bass section, said section comprising an integral one-piece housing formed of sheet plastic material'including end and back walls, a bottom board and a piston and backwall's, a'bottom board and a piston board, said pistonboard portion having a'plu- 15.

board, said piston board portion having aplurality "of apertures therein, a valve board re- 'movably secured to the integral walls within said housing, a bass action'assembly'supported by said valve board having a plurality of piston keys freely extending throughsaid apertures, and abridge-" ii support carried by said valve board for providing bearings in whichsaid piston keys are slidably supported and aligned.

3. An accordion having a bass section, said section comprising an integral one piece housing formed of sheet plastic material including end and back walls, a bottom board and a piston board, said piston board portion having a plurality of apertures therein, a .valve board removably ing said'piston'keys and the movable parts of the 4 bassacti'on assembly.

4. 'An' accordion having a bass section, said section comprising an integral one piece housing formed of sheet plastic material to provide end hand back walls with a bottom board having sup-p porting feet projecting therefromand a piston board incorporating a plurality of apertures therein, a unitary assembly of the bass action including a valve board insertable through the open'side of said housing, sai'dbass' action havingr key pistons freely extending through said apertures, and a frame secured within the'integral walls ofsaid housing'for removably supporting said'valveiboard' and bassaction therein.

'5. An accordion having a bass'section, said section comprising an integral one piece housing formed of sheetplastic material to provide end and back walls with a bottom board anda piston board incorporating a plurality of apertures therein, a unitary assembly of the bass action including a valve board insertable through the open side of said housing, said b'ass action having key pistons 'freely' extending through said apertures,

and a 'frame' secured within the integral walls of said housing for removably" supporting said valve board and bass action therein.

6. An accordion having a basssection, said section comprising an integral one piece housing formed of sheet plastic materialincluding end and back walls with bottom andpiston'boards,

secured to the integral walls within said housing),

board, the piston board portion being provided with a plurality of apertures therein, and a frame secured within the integral walls of said housing for removably supporting a bass action assembly therein having piston keys freely extending 5 through said apertures.

CARL LINDEBERG. 

